Journey's Beginning
by bittasummer
Summary: My version of how Journey's End should have been. "And he still won't look at her. Won't acknowledge her sufferable and painful presence. Won't turn and see the love and pure admiration glowing in her eyes. And she blames herself." Ten/Rose. Multi-chapter. Complete.
1. Prologue

**Journey's End**

**-**

**Summary:** AU. My own version of events in 4x13. A little idea was spurn from when I watched the episode. Probably won't go very far, but, oh... Who knows? Davros gets more intense than The Doctor ever thought was possible. Rose discovers The Doctor's true soul and as time goes on; will they pull together, or push each other way?

**Pairing:**

10/Rose

Maybe slightly Donna/Jack

**Other:** More inspiration from Rihanna's new song; Disturbia... It's really good. Also, it'll go a lot like the script apart from a couple parts, and I'll change little parts. Didn't we all hate that episode? What a rip-off... Anyway...

R&R! x

* * *

**Prologue**

**-**

**-**

"Activate the holding cells" Davros barked.

The holding cells appeared like spotlights over the Doctor and Rose, who had been placed standing a few feet from one another.

Davros rolled towards The Doctor on his chair "Excellent... Even when powerless, a Time Lord is best contained".

"Still scared of me, then?" The Doctor replied.

He touched the edge of the holding cell with the palm of his hand and it rippled with blue light. Rose frowned and did the same.

"It is time we talked, Doctor" Davros continued "After so very long—".

"No, no, no, no, no" The Doctor interrupted impatiently "We're not doing the nostalgia tour. I want to know what's happening right here, right now, 'cause the Supreme Dalek said 'vault', yeah?" he turned, taking in his surroundings_ "_As in, dungeon. Cellar. Prison..." he broke off, knowingly "You're not in charge of the Daleks, are you? They've got you locked away down here in the basement, like, what, a servant? Slave? Court jester?".

"We have... an arrangement" Davros interrupted.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no" The Doctor laughed mockingly "I've got the word. You're the Dalek's pet!".

Davros moved away from him, to Rose "So very full of fire, is he not? And to think, you crossed entire universes, striding parallel to parallel to find him again".

"Leave her alone" The Doctor gritted coldly with anger.

Davros looked to Rose "She is mine. To do as I please".

"Then why am I still alive?" Rose challenged.

"You must be here" Davros replied "It was foretold. Even the Supreme Dalek would not dare to contradict the prophesies of Dalek Caan".

He pressed a button on his control panel, throwing light onto Dalek Caan, on his platform.

"So cold and dark" Dalek Caan sing-songed insanely "Fire is coming... the endless flames...".

"What is that thing?" Rose asked The Doctor.

"You've met before" The Doctor replied "The last of the Cult of Skaro. But it flew into the Time War, unprotected".

"Caan did more than that" Davros added "He saw Time. It's infinite complexity and majesty raging through his mind. And... he saw you. Both of you".

The Doctor and Rose glanced at one another. She tried to get those emotions that she had felt for the torturous time apart into his eyes, tried to get him to understand just how much she needed him.

"This I have foreseen in the wild and the wind" Caan interrupted their moment "The Doctor will be here, as witness, at the end of everything. The Doctor and his precious Children of Time!" he giggled madly "And one of them will die...!".

"Was it you, Caan?" The Doctor could barely contain his rage "Did you kill Donna? Why did the TARDIS door close? Tell me!".

"Oh, that's it!" Davros cried, delighted "The end, the fire, the rage of a Time Lord who butchered millions. There he is. Why so shy? Show your companion... Show her your true self..." The Doctor couldn't answer or even bare to look at Rose as Davros peered at him "Dalek Caan has promised me that, too".

"I have seen it" Dalek Caan added madly "At the time of ending, the Doctor's soul will be revealed".

"What does that mean?" The Doctor asked; unnerved. He doesn't want his true self to be revealed, especially not to Rose.

"We will discover it together..." Davros replied "Our final journey. Because the ending approaches. The testing begins..." he turns away.

"Testing of what?" The Doctor edges on, wants to know, needs to know...

Davros turned back to answer "The Reality Bomb" his gravelly voice echoed.

The Doctor still wouldn't look at Rose, even as her eyes tried to seek out his. She needed him to see her. To see that she needed him. She wanted him.

Damn it, he was ignoring her.

"What's that?" The Doctor barked "What's the Reality Bomb? What is it!?".

"Take them down to the cellars" Davros told two Daleks "Use the chains" his eyes drew to The Doctor "I really have other plans to get to work with, Doctor... Be seeing you".

The holding cell lights fell off The Doctor and Rose and suddenly the two Daleks were pushing them towards stairs.

The Doctor glanced at Rose, who was now ignoring him. He sighed and began walking down the stairs behind her. He'd ignored her and now she was mad. Maybe not mad... Hurt, even?

His hand reached out to touch her shoulder, his fingers trembling.

"You will decease your intimate contact" a Dalek barked.

Rose turned sharply and stared at The Doctor's retracted hand. Her eyes burned over with a flickering desire and just when he was going to open his mouth—

"You will move" the other Dalek barked.

Rose turned and began walking again, The Doctor looking down at his feet as he followed her. Maybe this was one of the times where he couldn't save everyone.


	2. Despair

**Part 1**

**Despair**

**-**

**-**

The Doctor watches her. He doesn't stop. The way her hair folds across her face, shielding the pain that must flicker through it, the way the chains around her wrists weigh her down, the shadow of light from a flickering light-bulb in the ceiling shines her on like an angel from heaven.

God, he wants to say so many things. Tell her a thousand words. Those thousands words that contained a millions meanings... How he felt about her, how heart-breaking it was for him to lose her, and how happy he is that she had returned. Travelled across parallel worlds just to find him.

They're inches apart, leaning against the damp and dark wall of the cellar. The chains are attached to the wall, a set of cuffs on The Doctor's wrists and a set on Rose's, almost painfully.

"I'm sorry" the words slip out from his lips, almost not heard but definitely there.

Rose raises her head up at him and he has to look away. She's been crying silently but now, now she looks at him, begging him to look at her. She needs him to look at her.

"Look at me" she whispered, inching closer.

His head can't turn, can't look at her.

"Please" Rose whimpers "Why can't you ever just let me all the way in?" her voice breaks at the end, escapee tears running down her cheeks.

Now, he can't not look at her. The Doctor's head turns, he lifts up, and stares into her eyes. Those brown chocolate eyes that he missed so much.

This time, she looks away. The words she wanted to say, now choked in her throat. He reaches out to take her hand and tries to come closer but the chains hold him back.

"This is hopeless" Rose hangs her head "Donna's dead, Jack's dead, the TARDIS is dead, Harriet Jones is dead... We're all doomed".

His mouth opens to speak, wills the words to form but they don't.

"Doctor?" Rose pleads "Talk to me".

The Doctor stares down at her, his nerve battered and his hearts bruised. He trembles with fear at just being near her, being close to her again. His mouth opens and then shuts again.

Rose closes her mouth in anger. He'd just rejected her. Her hands jerk out of his and she moves away as far as she can, tugging at her chains.

The Doctor stares after her, retracting his trembling hands. He draws his knees up under his chin and hugs his body painfully. She won't look at him, she can't.

And he blames himself.

**-**

**-**

She's not there when he wakes up. It unnerves him. She's not there. Her cuffs are empty and the tiny blonde body is gone.

He screams, his throat burning with rawness at the thought of what she's going through. He bangs his fists against the wall, rattling his chains with anger.

There's so pain already coursing through his body but he doesn't care. He stands almost, yanking at the chains and then he throws himself at the wall.

Again. And again. Until someone finally tells him what's going on, he'll keep pounding his broken body against that wall, he'll screaming with anger, keep cursing in Gallifreyan, keep taunting Davros until someone brings back Rose.

And then the doors clink open and she walks back weakly, towards her spot, two Daleks in tow. They order her to cuff herself and she does, not daring to look at him.

The Daleks cackle insanely and leave them. He winces as the locks on the door sound loudly in his ears. There's nowhere to escape.

"Rose" he tries to edge closer "What happened? What'd they do?" a pause and then a bitter tone that's clouded over with anger, "Tell me".

Rose looks up, and sniffs harshly, holding her hand to her head before sitting up right. She has a cut on her left cheek that never used to be there and her weak form is worrying him beyond anything.

"The usual" she shrugs.

"Rose" his voice presses on darkly "What did they do?".

"Me and Davros had a little chat" Rose says it like he's any other bloke, out for lunch on a Sunday. It shakes him; her tone. The way she's acting as if nothing ever happened.

"The usual" she continues "You..." her voice lingers "Us... And..." she's not sure if she should continue "I got cheeky and he slapped me. What'd you think happened, Doctor?".

The Doctor's jaw tightens. Damn it. If it weren't for these chains, he'd get up and kiss her lips until they bonded with his. Until the wind changed and they were stuck together like that. Kiss all her worries away.

"Nothing else?" he presses on. He has to know. He has to know because when he gets out of here, he's going to hunt Davros down and pull him apart, bit by bit.

"There was one other thing" Rose brushes her hair behind her ear and waits "Davros... He said you butchered millions... Your soul would be revealed...".

Oh god. He freezes; his hearts pumping faster, his throat going painfully small. His blood rushes through his veins as she just looks at him.

"I need to know" she whispers scaredly "Davros... He said you'd killed millions... Your own people, in the Time War... He said..." she draws her body back, her eyes going dark "...You were a killer...".

He hadn't meant to. Something in him just snapped and he pulled back, his eyes jerking down at her with anger "Yeah" he whispers sadly "I am" and then the words have gone from his mouth and god, he wishes he could take them back.

"You scarified your own people in the Time War?" Rose doesn't know what she's doing pressing him but she has to know. She knew he'd never hurt a living soul so why is she so unconvinced?

"I did" The Doctor nods "To stop the War and the suffering and the deaths... I rampaged through many worlds and destroyed them, if it meant my own people would be put to rest".

She waits, her body gone tense.

"I ended the Time War" The Doctor continues, talking but he's not talking to her anymore "I killed millions of lives to save billions... And I survived... I ended my world and walked away unharmed..." there's tears in his eyes but they won't fall "And I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry... I couldn't save them..." his face trails off.

Rose looks down sadly.

"So the answer to your earlier question is yes" he states abruptly, jerking up to look at her pained face "Yes, I am the Destroyer of Worlds and yes, I am a murderer".

Her blood runs cold. The colour drains away from her face. It wasn't the answer she'd been hoping for. She'd been hoping for jokes, smiles, shaking of the head and the babbling. She missed the babbling.

He won't look at her now and he turns his body away, huddling up into the corner. Her heart breaks and damn it, she wants to sob, to whimper and cry and shout at him and heal her broken heart. But she won't. So she watches him instead.

She bites her bottom lip and watches the curve of his back, the out-line of his unruly hair, the fragile way his fingers grip the ground to push himself up against the wall, his slender body almost pushed into a ball, like a scared little lonely boy.

She almost loses herself. Almost moves over and reaches out to cup his neck, run her fingers through his hair, huddle them both close together because if it's their last days on earth then they only want to spend it with each other. She wants him to whisper words of gold in her ear, wants him to caress her body, swearing he'll only ever love her.

Just like she'll only ever love him. And she's so stubborn sometimes. Just like him. It does frighten him just how well she knows him. Or thought she knew... Now... Now she knows he's a cold-blooded killer and if she looks at him like that one more time, he's going to break and start sobbing on the spot.

She never thought it would come to this. To being held prisoner while the world she grew up lived in terror. Pain. She never thought she'd lose Donna, Jack and the TARDIS all in one day. Her gaze flickers up to his back and she holds back tears. She'd lost him. She'd lost him. Fought her way through all the impossibles and found him.

And now he won't even look at her. He won't or can't turn around to face her pained-echoed expression. Won't allow himself to even think about going over to touch her or do anything else that would put them danger. She's pretty sure she can hear his hearts beat, faster and faster as her breathing picks up.

She wants it to be like old times. To laugh and joke and smile and be happy that at least they've got each other but it's too late for that. Far, far too late. Everyone who could have helped is dead, gone and now, they're alone as Earth crumbles beneath them.

She picks up his tense breathing pattern and she moves just a little to hear him. He's shaking, trembling, his breathing coming out in cold ragged pants of despair. That's what they're in. Despair. Nothing can save them now. Davros wins as humanity submits to his evil alien ways.

And he still won't look at her. Won't acknowledge her sufferable and painful presence. Won't turn and see the love and pure admiration glowing in her eyes.

And she blames herself.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey what'd you think? Reviews are awesome! :)**

**x**


	3. Anger

**Part 2**

**Anger**

**-**

**-**

Rose reckons it's only been 14 hours since they forced her and The Doctor in here. The four dark depressive walls kind of grow on her. The cellar's damp, a sense of dread just being down there. It's a small room with the only light coming off a crappy light-bulb in the ceiling and the small bits of light that get through the cracks in the wooden dirty door.

She sometimes hears them, passing the door, laughing, talking, as if they're not just ready to slaughter billions of people. She doesn't know what their plan is but she can guess it's anything but peaceful.

Her thoughts flicker to her family. God, Mickey should have kept her mother safe or so help her god, she'd have more wrath than a Dalek.

The noise comes from the corner and she looks over quickly to see The Doctor, whimpering in his sleep. He doesn't normally sleep, or at least, he didn't... Maybe it's his body's way of dealing with it. She wishes she could but ever since they took her with ease, she'd rather stay on high alert. Awake.

Something in her stirs and this time, it's not the urge to vomit. It's the anger and rage deep inside her. Her anger at Davros. At the Daleks, at herself, at The Doctor and her anger in that she could be out there, saving lives, but instead, she's kept like a prisoner... Helpless. She hates being helpless.

Her anger at The Doctor for just giving up. For just rolling over, literally, and letting the car run over him, full speed ahead. Where's that fight he used to have? Is it now gone? Has he changed since she last saw him?

"Doctor" her voice slips out. She hadn't meant to say it but suddenly, there is was. Calling out for him again. Like she always dreamed she would be. It was a whisper but his body had frozen and she's sure she can hear his hearts beating again.

He'd heard her. Slowly, while holding her breath, she watches him, draw up, yawning and turning slowly over to face her again. She resists the urge to smile as she takes in his parted puffy lips, wild brown messy hair, his crinkled clothes and tired eyes.

"Yeah?" he asks like nothing ever happened between them before. Like they're not waiting for impending death, like they didn't just have a conversation that scared her half to death, like they were normal. Like before. Before the Cybermen and the Daleks came. Before the war. And damn it, she loves that tone.

She rises her head, brushing back her hair, breathing deeply before looking him in the eye again "I... Is there not something we could do? Like, people you know... UNIT, although..." she trails off, eyes distant.

He finds herself so adorable to watch. She's still trying to help him... Help the world, like they used to... Used to love being together; solving alien mysteries.

"There's nothing I can do" he struggles as he says it "We're outnumbered and I know it's selfish... But, I'd rather not lose you, again... We just have to stay here until we know what Davros is planning".

"It's killing me" she whimpers "I can't take it anymore".

He wants to move closer, edge closer to her and kiss her pain away but he can't. He won't. He shakes his head in sorrow "I'm so sorry, Rose... I always promised Jackie I'd keep you safe... Now this world is falling apart and it's all my fault..." he glances down before looking up at her "I'll get you out of here, I promise".

She shakes her head and falls back. He thinks her desperation is because of their current living situations. Of course it's not, it's about him and how that 2 years ago, they could hold hands and hug and now... Now they won't even look at each other. Can't look at each other.

"Rose?" he questions her "I am going to get you out of here" his voice is firm and rough, something quite different to the desperation that had touched his voice earlier.

Once again, she just shakes her head and falls back into the wall, keeping her eyes far away from his. Goosebumps form on her skin and she tries to shake them away from her. Tries to shake everything that has happened away from her but once again... It won't shake. It never will. Maybe over time and it doesn't help that 'over time' doesn't tell her what or when the bloody hell that means.

She doesn't notice him coming close to her until his body is inches away from hers. God, she hurts. He can feel it. He can feel the sprains in her ankles, the pain her cheek, the tension headache already forming, the tightening muscles in her joints from being kept down in the cellar with no food, water or light.

"Can I?" he asks.

At first, she doesn't know what he's doing, what he plans to do. But then the thought dawns on her. He trusts him. Always has. Always will. Nothing will ever change that. Certainly not Davros.

"Yes" Rose whispers, nodding.

The Doctor's trembling fingers reach out and place them gently on her temples. And then she knows what he's doing. Seconds later, he's in. Inside her mind. They're connected. One mind. One body.

A silent gasp slips passes her lips as she feels him, freely moving around in her. She can feel her ankles began to tighten in strength and the throbbing pain she didn't want to have, gone. She can feel his fingers mentally brush over her cheek and the cut is healed. Gone. Now she can feel him in her head. Roaming around old memories, trying to pin-point where the tension is coming from.

And before she knows it, the pain's gone. His fingers press a little more firmly on her temples and then she can feel him again. Him around her joints. Her hips and legs and back... She can feel him on her. In her. He's taking the pain, the stress, the pressure and replacing it with an inner strength she didn't know she possessed.

She can feel him begin to withdraw but then stop. Before he leaves her and they have to go back to that damp dark dirty cellar, he leaves her something happy. A golden and fresh meadow appears in her head, the smell of the air in her nose already, the colours of the trees, meadows, plants... He'd given her a happy place. Somewhere she could go to if she needed to. And she'd wait for him there, too.

And then, he's gone. Rose looked up; panting slightly "I..." she gaped, still over-whelmed by the shock of experiencing him in her mind.

The Doctor glanced down, smiling slightly. He was about to pull back to his original spot but he feels a hand on his arm and stops. He stops at her touch. He feels her pull him around her, laying her head on his shoulder.

Surprisingly, he doesn't move. Doesn't try to deny himself those feelings about her that he had to bury when he'd lost her. He wraps his arms around her, urging her head into his chest, sighing deeply. Her head buzzes with a million things she wants to ask him but she won't. Instead, she just closes her eyes and waits.

This time, she goes to sleep.

**-**

**-**

When she wakes, he's not there. It frightens her... Where could he have gone? Have they taken him? Killed him? Did something worse? God, she wants to be there with him. Now. Her arms wrapped tight around his body and her body shoving his into the wall with passion.

Rose looks at her watch and counts every second. She goes mad until 37 minutes 28 seconds later, the door opens and she gets herself up on her knees and sees The Doctor, walking in with an expressionless look on his face. He sits next to his chains as two Daleks watch below. He puts on his chains and look up at the Daleks.

They just turn and come back the way they came and then the door slams shut and every bit of hope she had in him is slowly being ripped away.

"What happened?" she edges closer "Davros... What'd he do?".

He lifts his head to look at her, the glint in his eyes not there anymore. Maybe it never was, she wonders. Maybe it was all her imagination and he was still the Time Lord... And all she was was the silly little ape.

"Same as you" he replies, his lips forming to the words so perfectly she has to resist reaching out to touch them. "Just an interrogation".

"And?" she has to press on "When I was there, there were these two Daleks; they were having a fight, sort of... A conversation but it was anything but friendly and Dalek Caan, yeah? He smiled at me, I know he did, like he wanted to tell me something...".

The Doctor regards her with a look that says she's crazy. "There was nothing when I went up" she doesn't believe him, he's lying to her, she's so sure...

"I don't believe you" she tells him honestly, watching the movements of his hair, fingers, and the way his body just tensed.

"Yeah?" it's a little angrier than he wanted "Well, welcome to the club. I don't know what's going on out there, okay? For once, I'm powerless, I can't be the Time Lord, the saver of worlds that you want!".

"Well it's better than just sitting here!" she shouts back, all her anger thrown on his fragile and broken body "At least I'm not rolling over and admitting defeat, I'm trying, okay!? I want to get out of here but you! You don't want to leave, do!? You just wanna sit here and then it's all okay because it doesn't matter what's going on out there, just as long as you don't feel guilty for not being there to stop it!".

Their words hang in the now tense and dark air. She flings her body against the wall, trying to calm her fast beating heart and abrupt breathing. He just watches her, looks like she just kicked in the stomach, like she just stabbed one of his hearts.

She won't look at him now. Even as his eyes seek out hers, she won't look. Her body tenses and turns over, away from him. His hand reaches out to touch her back but the chains on his wrists stop him. He draws back, slowly dying bit by bit.

And he won't sleep now. Can't sleep. He knows she won't either but at least she'll have that happy little place in the meadows he gave her. His mouth opens to croak out something but it doesn't come and he knows he's not very good with emotions. They won't sleep. And they won't look.

And this time, they blame each other.

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**A/N:**

**Soz, no toture... I wanna show that dark depressing side of 10/Rose but not too much cause this has a happy ending :)**

**Reviews are love! ;)**

**x**


	4. Hope

**Part 3**

**Hope**

**-**

**-**

She knows he's watching her. Her back is pressed against the wall but she still knows he's watching her, the curve of her hips, the fall of her hair, her breathing coming out in ragged mist. A thousand miles. It's what she swore she would do if she had to. She would walk a thousand just to get him.

She needs him. She missed him and now she wonders how they got here. She fell through the sky and time passed her by but still, she walked a thousand miles, just to see him. She can't lose him now. She doesn't want her memories, doesn't want to be home-bound, staring blankly ahead, just making her way in life... She wants to be with him. Forever with him.

And she'd walk a thousand miles just to see him. She'd brave a million Daleks, Davros and space, just to hold him again. See him again. And she'd done it. Against all odds, she'd done it.

Her eyes lift up to meet his pained ones. God, she could tell him everything that had happened in her parallel, tell him everything she went through just too even dare to dream about him again. And damn it, she still needs him.

"How'd we get like this?" she musters weakly.

He doesn't respond, still staring at her. "I don't know" he whispers back. He wants to ask her all the things he never got a chance to. All the things he wanted too but then the storm came. And she was gone.

"I missed you" she smiles sadly.

"Yeah?" the hope is filled in his pain-staked voice. Hope is filled in his guilty-burdened eyes.

"Yeah" is all she says. Now she's waiting for him. Say it. Say it. Say it. She watches him with hope as he opens his mouth to say _something_ but then closes it again and she should have known better. Should have known he wouldn't have been able to say it. He never would.

"Right" she nods, falling back away from him. And the hope is gone. The Doctor sighs desperately, looking away, because if she looks at him like that one more time then he's going to break.

"Ro—" he starts to say her name but something cuts him off. They're on super high alert as the door opens and Davros strolls in happily.

She edges closer to him instinctively and he wishes he could wrap his arms around her without fearing what Davros would do if he really understood the full extent of how much Rose means to him.

"Getting settled?" Davros croaks "It seems so fitting that The Doctor and his companion rot away in a cell, knowing there is nothing they can do to save poor planet Earth".

God, she hates that voice. He reminds her of a wrinkly old elderly man in a wheel chair. Trying to grip on to any shred of independency he has left.

"What'd you want, Davros?" The Doctor says bitterly, angrily.

"Just you" Davros replies "And the Valiant Child... You will come" he raises his hands and a thin blue light appears and hits the chains.

They take that one hit and crumble away to ash. Rose stumbles, following The Doctor.

"You will come" Davros says, turning on his wheels.

The Doctor and Rose stare after her. Really, she wants to stay here, it's a hell of a safer in here than out there but she knows she can't. She won't.

He thinks about offering her his hand. Like they used to do. But then Davros is barking at him again and The Doctor puts his hands in his pockets and smiles, striding out of there as if he has no care in the world.

Rose wishes she had that kind of confidence. She breathes deeply and follows out after The Doctor, praying any help would come.

She hoped.

**-**

**-**

The Doctor and Rose are back in their light holding cells in the vault. Davros is standing in front of The Doctor, smiling madly.

"What's the Reality Bomb, Davros?" The Doctor gritted his teeth in anger.

"Oh all right" Davros wheels back and glances to Rose before continuing "If you really want to know..." he pauses, pressing a button on the controls in front of him.

A 3D screen crops up in front of Rose and The Doctor. He stares at it, frowning. Then it dawns it him. Holy shit. No.

He spins around to Davros "But that's Z-Neutrino Energy. Flattened by the alignment of the planets into a single stream... No" he turns to Davros, blind panic written in his features "Davros. Davros, you can't! You can't! No!".

"What is it, Doctor?" Rose asks, staring at him with confusion, trembling with fear.

"Electrical energy, Miss Tyler" Davros turns to Rose.

It freaks her out. They way The Doctor just stares at Davros, breathing heavily, not really being able to take in what's happening.

"Every atom in existence is bound by an electrical field" Davros continues to Rose "The Reality Bomb cancels it out - structure falls apart. That test was focused on the prisoners alone. Full transmission will dissolve every form of matter".

"The stars are going out..." she whispers, suddenly realising.

"The twenty-seven planets..." The Doctor gapes "They become one vast transmitter. Blasting that wavelength..." he can't look at her now. Now he knows what Davros's big maniac plan is, he can't look at her. Won't look at her and see those big brown eyes begging him to save her. To save everyone.

"Across the entire universe" Davros's eyes glint with unstoppable madness "Never stopping. Never faltering. Never fading. People and planets and stars will become dust. And the dust will become atoms and the atoms will become... nothing. And the wavelength will continue, breaking through the Rift at the heart of the Medusa Cascade into every dimension, every parallel, every single corner of creation" his voice cracks on hysterical madness "Doctor! The destruction of reality itself!".

The Doctor stares back, stunned and unwilling to move or breathe properly. This is the most dangerous of all things he has ever come across. And he is frozen by fear. Shock.

Rose is staring back in shock. She never ever thought it would come to this. Not in a million years.

**-**

**-**

It's 7 torturing minutes and just when Rose is gonnah say something, a hologram appears in front of her and The Doctor, Davros quickly rolling over to see it.

The Doctor stares and suddenly Martha's on the screen. Hope over-whelms his body.

"This message is for the Dalek Crucible. Repeat: can you hear me?" Martha asks on the screen.

"Put me through!" The Doctor cries.

"It begins as Dalek Caan foretold" Davros says, making Rose wince.

"The children of time will gather..." Dalek Caan almost sing-songs insanely "And one of them will die!".

"Stop saying that!" The Doctor shouts, exasperated "Put me through!".

"Doctor!" Martha cries "... I'm sorry. I had to".

"Oh!" Davros adds "But the Doctor is powerless - my prisoner. State your intent".

Martha slowly held up the Osterhagen Key. "I've got the Osterhagen Key. Leave this planet and its people alone, or I'll use it".

"Osterhagen what?" The Doctor frowns "What's an Osterhagen Key?".

Rose, all the while, stares the screen, time from time, glancing to Davros with caution. He catches her eye one time and gives her that maddening sickly smile that makes her spine tingle.

"There's a chain of twenty-five nuclear warheads placed in strategic points beneath the Earth's crust" Martha replies "If I use the key, they detonate and the Earth gets ripped apart".

"What!?" The Doctor cries, appalled "Who invented that?! Well - someone called Osterhagen, I suppose - but Martha, are you insane?!".

Rose can see this Martha person struggling with effort as she continues.

"The Osterhagen Key is to be used if the suffering of the Human Race is so great, so without hope... that this becomes the final option" Martha replies, a look in her eye that says she'll do if she has to.

"That' NEVER an option" The Doctor swears with passion.

"Don't argue with me, Doctor" Martha snaps "Cause there's more than that. Now, I reckon the Daleks need these twenty-seven planets for something, but what if it becomes twenty-six? What happens then? Daleks? Would you risk it?".

"She'd good!" Rose smiles, impressed.

"Who's that?" Martha frowns.

"My name's Rose" Rose states "Rose Tyler".

Martha's face goes stunned, overcome "Oh, my god... He found you".

Rose gives The Doctor a look and this time, he stares back. He'd wanted to tell her everything but if a look was all they were gonnah get, that was good enough for him. He'd never been good with words and emotions.

Suddenly, another hologram appears beside Martha's, showing Jack, holding the Warp Star that's attached to a bunch of wires and beside him is Sarah-Jane, Mickey and Jackie.

"Captain Jack Harkness calling all Dalek boys and girls!" Jack grins on the screen "Are you receiving me? Don't send in your goons or I'll set this thing off".

"He's still alive!" Rose gapes, amazes. She stares "Oh my god, that's— that's my mum!".

"And Mickey" The Doctor adds "Captain— what are you doing?".

"I've a Warp Star wired into the mainframe" Jack replies "I break the shell... The entire Crucible goes up".

The Doctor gasps, exasperated "You can't! Where did you get a Warp Star?!".

"From me" Sarah-Jane steps forwards "I had no choice. We saw what happened to the prisoners".

"Impossible" Davros stares at Sarah-Jane "That face... after all these years".

"Davros" Sarah-Jane whispers. Her eyes go cold, angry "It's been quite a while. Sarah-Jane Smith. Remember?".

"Oh, this is meant to be" Davros is revelling in this "The Circle of Time is closing. You were there on Skaro at the very beginning of my creation".

"And I've learned how to fight since then!" Sarah-Jane cries back "You let the Doctor go or this Warp Star - it gets opened!".

Rose glances to The Doctor. He can't look at them. He can't face up to what he's made them. He hates this and if it wasn't for the stupid holding cell, she'd run over and hug him. Comfort him.

"I'll do it" Jack swears. He tweaks the Warp Star threateningly "Don't imagine I wouldn't".

Rose laughs "Now, that's what I call a ransom" she glances at him again, noticing his tortured features "Doctor?".

"And the prophecy unfolds" Davros smiles sickly.

"The Doctor's soul is revealed!" Dalek Cann cackles "See him! See the heart of him!".

Rose stares at him. His eyes are downcast, holding unbearable guilt. His chest is breathing heavily and this kills her. She can't move. Can't hold him. And now she wants to kick herself for being to hold him in that cellar but she didn't. Couldn't.

"The man who abhors violence, never carrying a gun" Davros continues, loving every minute of this "But this is the truth, Doctor: you take ordinary people and you fashion THEM into weapons. Behold your Children of Time transformed into murderers. I made the Daleks, Doctor. You made this".

"They're trying to help" The Doctor states quietly, almost weakly.

Davros stares at him "Already, I have seen them sacrifice today for their beloved Doctor. The Earth woman who fell opening the sub-wave network".

"Who was that?" The Doctor frowns.

"Harriet Jones" Rose finds her voice and decides to tell him. Whether she should or shouldn't, she does it anyway. He stares at her, stunned.

"She gave her life to get you here" Rose continues sadly.

"How many more? Just think" Davros presses to break the already broken Doctor "How many have died in your name?".

The Doctor doesn't want to remember. But, suddenly, they all come flashing back to him:

_Jabe, her hands on a lever. The Controller. Lynda, screaming as she is exterminated. Sir Robert outside Torchwood House. Mrs Moore. Mr Skinner's face in the Absorbaloff. Ursula. Bridget. The Face of Boe's eyes closing one last time. Chantho. Astrid in a __forklift. Luke, destroying the Sontarans. Jenny, dying in his arms. River, forcing two cables together. The Hostess and Sky flying out of an airlock._

The Doctor stands there, barely holding it together, trembling and utterly broken.

"The Doctor... the man who keeps running, never looking back, because he dare not, out of shame" Davros croaks with victory.

Rose wants Davros to shut up, because he's pulling The Doctor apart and she can't stand listening to this mad little alien anymore.

"This is my final victory, Doctor" Davros adds "I have shown you... yourself".

Rose glances to The Doctor fearfully. He won't look now. He can't. She knows who he is now and he's slowly crumbling away. He's slowly being ripped apart. He doesn't have an answer this time.

"It's the Crucible... or the Earth" Martha holds the Osterhagen Key on the screen.

Rose hears a Dalek bark something.

"No!" Martha is suddenly in the vault, snatched from the screen by a beam of white light. The Osterhagen Key falls to the ground.

The white light transports Jack, Sarah-Jane, Mickey, and Jackie to the vault. They slowly pick themselves up, Jack helping Martha.

"Martha" Jack says "I've got you, it's alright—".

"Don't move!" The Doctor cries "All of you! Stay still!".

Jackie and Mickey and Sarah Jane advance. As the Doctor holds his hand out to stop them, it nudges the edge of the holding cell.

"Guard them!" Davros barks "On your knees, all of you. Surrender!".

"Do as he says" The Doctor tells them.

The Daleks glide around them - after a moment, they obey, kneeling with their hands behind their heads.

"Mum, I told you not to!" Rose mutters under her breath to Jackie.

"Yeah, but I couldn't leave you" Jackie replies.

Mickey raises his hands.

"The final prophesy is in place" Davros says "The Doctor and his children all gathered as witnesses. Supreme Dalek... the time has come!" his voice trembles with excitement "Now..." he shouts, pointing upwards "Detonate the Reality Bomb!".

Suddenly, the TARDIS begins to materialise with a familiar grinding of engines and a gentle wind.

The Doctor's thrown, surprised "But that's...".

Dalek Caan giggles. Rose and Martha's mouths are hanging open.

"Impossible" Davros gasps.

The TARDIS materialises fully, light shining from its windows. The New Doctor steps forth, framed with a blinding backlight.

"Brilliant" Jack breathes, awed and impressed.

The original Doctor's mouth is hanging open with disbelief. Davros rolls backwards, afraid. The new Doctor runs towards him, the device in-hand.

"Don't!" The Doctor panics.

Davros points at him and electricity flies from his finger and hits the new Doctor in the chest. He falls to the floor, winded but not badly hurt.

"Activate holding cell" Davros says.

A holding cell springs up around the new Doctor.

Donna suddenly appears; running from the TARDIS "Doctor!" she picks up the device "I've got it! But I don't know what to do!".

Davros sends her flying backwards with the same electricity when he hit the new Doctor.

"Donna!" The Doctor shouts.

Davros grins as she falls in a heap at the opposite end of the Vault.

"Donna!" The Doctor cries "Are you all right, Donna?!".

Rose is absolutely stunned. She can't believe this is happening. Suddenly, no hope and then millions of hope to... Possibly no hope again.

"Destroy the weapon!" Davros cries.

A Dalek fires a death-ray at the device, which explodes.

"I was wrong about your warriors, Doctor" Davros continues "They are pathetic".

"How come there's two of you?!" Rose asks The Doctor when she can take it no longer.

"Human biological metacrisis" The Doctor explains quickly "Never mind that, now we've got no way of stopping the Reality Bomb".

"Stand witness, Time Lord" Davros croaks "Stand witness, Humans" he activates a hologram screen displaying the 27 planets "Your strategies have failed, your weapons are useless, and..." he stops, mockingly "oh - the end of the universe has come".

They watch the screen, breathing heavily in dreadful anticipation, utterly powerless.

Slightly breathless, Donna pulls herself upright behind a control panel. Throughout the countdown, they exchange glances, bracing themselves...

"Five... four... three... two... one..."

The bomb powers down, the screen goes dead. An alarm sounds. Daleks, Humans and the Doctor look around in confusion._  
_"Oh... closing all Z-Neutrino relay loops using an internalised synchronous back-feed reversal loop!" Donna smiles confidently, flicking a switch easily "That button there!".

"Donna, you can't even change a plug!" The Doctor cries, bemused.

Donna grins "Do you wanna bet, Time Boy?".

"You will suffer for this" Davros swears.

Donna cocks her head on one side as if she doesn't think so, somehow. She flicks a switch, electrocuting Davros' arm. He shrieks.

"Oh...! Bioelectric dampening field with a retrogressive arc inversion" Donna cries.

"Exterminate her!" Davros shouts furiously.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" a Dalek barks. Another one follows.

The Doctor looks fearful but Donna does not seem bothered in the slightest - she merely presses a few buttons, flicks a few switches.

And the Daleks power down, their blaster-guns twitch uncontrollably.

"Weapons non-functional!" a Dalek shouts.

"What? Macrotransmission of a K-filter wavelength blocking Dalek weaponry in a self-replicating energy blindfold matrix?" Donna continues.

"How did you work that out?" The Doctor gasped, stunned "You...".

"Time Lord" The New Doctor states "Part Time Lord".

"Part Human!" Donna cries happily "Oh, yes! That was a two-way biological metacrisis".

Flashback - _Donna reaches out and touches the hand in a jar. It smashes, engulfing her in orange energy_.

"Half Doctor... half Donna!" Donna grins.

The Doctor stares at her "The Doctor-Donna... just like the Ood said, remember? They saw it coming! The Doctor-Donna".

Donna smiles.

Donna flickers some switches "Holding cells deactivated" the holding cells disappear "And seal the vault. Well, don't just stand there, you skinny boys in suits - get to work!".

Both Doctors dash to join Donna at the control panel.

"Stop them!" Davros screeches "Get them away from the controls!".

The Daleks advance.

Donna flicks a switch_ "_And... Spin".

Dalek spins in circles "Help me. Help me".

Jack chuckles, all the Daleks are spinning on the spot uncontrollably.

"And... the other way!" Donna laughs.

She presses a button, turns a dial - and they spin the other way, their upper and lower halves facing in different directions.

"What did you do?" The New Doctor asks.

"Trip-stitch circuit-breaker in the psycho-kinetic threshold manipulator" Donna replies with ease.

"But that's brilliant!" The New Doctor beams.

"Why did we never think of that?" The Doctor asks The New Doctor.

"Because you two... were just Time Lords!" Donna grins, loving it "You dumbos. Lacking that little bit of Human, that gut instinct that goes hand-in-hand with planet Earth. I could think of ideas that you two couldn't dream of in a million years! Ah, the universe has been waiting for me! Now... let's send that trip-stitch all over the ship. Did I ever tell you –" gestures to herself "Best temp in Chiswick?" she wiggles her fingers in typing motion "A hundred words per minute!".

"Ha!" The New Doctor grins.

The Daleks are rolling around uncontrollably. "System malfunction— Motor causing interference—".

Jack darts into the TARDIS.

"Come on then, boys!" Donna cries "We've got twenty-seven planets to send home. Activate magnetron".

"Stop it at once!" Davros shouts.

Jack emerges from the TARDIS with his and Rose's guns. "Mickey!" he chucks a gun to Mickey.

"You will desist!" Davros barks.

Mickey halts Davros, gun pointed in his face "Just stay where you are, Mister".

"Out of the way!" Jack cries, kicking a Dalek out of the way, sending it spinning off down a corridor.

Rose and Sarah Jane push a Dalek away between them.

"Good to see you again!" Sarah-Jane smiled.

"Yeah, you too!" Rose cries back.

The Dalek is sent flying off, babbling to itself - it thuds into the opposite wall. Martha pushes one away, too.

"Ready?" Donna asks The Doctors "And reverse!" she and the Doctors ease out two rods each on the controls.

"Off you go, Clom" The Doctor says.

"Back home, Adipose Three!" The New Doctor smiles.

Donna flicks two switches with her hands, one with her foot "Shallacatop! Pyrovilia! The Lost Moon of Poosh. Topping. Ha!".

"Ha!" The New Doctor grins.

"Is anyone gonna tell us what's going on?" Rose interrupts.

Donna gestures to The Doctor "He poured all his regeneration energy into his spare hand, I touched the hand –" gestures new Doctor who grins "- he grew out of that, but that fed back into me. But, it just stayed dormant in my head 'til the synapses got that little extra spark, kicking them into life".

Flashback -_ Davros points a bolt of electricity at Donna, sending her flying backwards._

"Thank you, Davros!" Donna grins.

Flashback -_ on the floor, Donna raises her head, her eyes swimming with the golden light from the Vortex._

"Part Human... part Time Lord" Donna continues "And I got the best bit of the Doctor "I got his mind".

"So there's THREE of you?" Sarah-Jane frowns.

"Three Doctors?" Rose stares.

"I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now..." Jack mutters distractedly.

"You're so unique that the timelines were converging on you. Human Being with a Time Lord brain" The Doctor tells Donna.

"But you promised me, Dalek Caan" Davros turns to Dalek Caan "Why did you not foresee this?".

Dalek Caan giggles.

"Oh, I think he did" The Doctor states "Something's been manipulating the timelines for ages... Getting Donna Noble to the right place at the right time".

"This would always have happened" Dalek Caan adds "I only helped, Doctor".

"You... betrayed the Daleks?" Davros croaks out.

"I SAW the Daleks" Dalek Caan replies "What we have done throughout time and space. I saw the truth of us, Creator, and I decreed 'no more'...".

"Heads up!" Jack cries.

The Supreme Dalek descends.

"Davros, you have betrayed us" Supreme Dalek states.

"It was Dalek Caan!" Davros cries.

"The Vault will be purged!" Supreme Dalek shouts "You will all be exterminated!" he sends a death ray towards the central column causing sparks to fly.

"Like I was saying, feel this!" Jack cries. He uses his gun to blast the Supreme Dalek in half.

The Doctor examines the central column "Oh, we've lost the magnatron! And there's only one planet left oh –" he laughs "Guess which one. Look, we can use the TARDIS!" He runs into the TARDIS.

The New Doctor flicks switches_ "_Holding Earth stability... maintaining atmospheric shell".

"The prophecy must complete" Dalek Caan adds.

"Don't listen to him" Davros interrupts.

"I have seen the end of everything Dalek, and you must make it happen, Doctor" Dalek Caan continues.

The New Doctor stops, caught by his words** "**He's right... Because with or without a Reality Bomb, this Dalek Empire's big enough to slaughter the cosmos... They've got to be stopped!".

"Just— just wait for the Doctor" Donna says hurriedly.

The New Doctor looks at her** "**I am the Doctor" moves around "Maximising Dalekanium power feeds... Blasting them BACK!".

The Daleks explode, one by one, screaming. The Doctor steps out of the TARDIS, sees the chaos -

"What've you done?!" The Doctor cries, horrified.

"Fulfilling the prophecy" The New Doctor replied.

Everyone inside the Vault is sent flying around - the New Doctor observes with a wild expression in his eyes.

"Do you know what you've done?!" The Doctor screams angrily "Now get in the TARDIS!".

The New Doctor reaches out for Rose and grabs her wrist, yanking her up roughly. Davros has rolled forwards, lifting his hand up. A light beam shoots out and aims for Rose.

The New Doctor sees this and pushes her out of the way, taking the full force.

"Doctor!" Rose finds herself screaming.

The New Doctor dissolves into the regeneration light and Rose runs to his spot, the light forcing its way into her mouth and eyes.

The Doctor stares, shell-shocked. Rose stumbles back and her mouth and eyes stop glowing. She turns to The Doctor.

"Everybody, in!" The Doctor shouts "Hurry up! In!".

Everybody runs into the TARDIS. Rose gives The Doctor a passing glance but now, he won't look at her. Her body is shaking slightly but she follows after everybody.

The Doctor stays by the TARDIS door, squinting through the fire.

"Davros?" The Doctor calls urgently, holding out his hand "Come with me! I promise I can save you!".

"Never forget, Doctor –" Davros shouts, croaking, pointing his finger "YOU did this! I name YOU, forever, YOU are the Destroyer of Worlds!" he screams as he is engulfed by flames.

"One will still die" Dalek Caan reminds The Doctor mournfully.

The Doctor turns back to the TARDIS, walks in and slams the doors shut.

Slams the doors shut on everything that happened and what could have been.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Slighter longer than my last... Lol probably full of typos that I missed but I'll fix them later ... ****Wasn't that how everybody wanted that episode to go..? ... Admit it, you did ;)**

**Nice happy Epilogue coming up next! Gotta love 10/Rose! :)**

**Reviews are love!**

**x**


	5. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**-**

**-**

The Doctor runs to the unusually crowded console – "And! Off we go!".

He pulls a lever - the TARDIS shudders as it starts and they all fall about, hanging onto the console for support.

"But what about the Earth?" Sarah-Jane asks "It's stuck in the wrong part of space!".

"I'm on it" The Doctor replies "Torchwood Hub, this is The Doctor. Are you receiving me?".

"Loud and clear" Gwen smiles into the screen "Is Jack there?".

The Doctor glances at Jack "Can't get rid of him".

He looks at Jack "Jack, what's her name?".

"Gwen Cooper" Jack replies.

"Tell me, Gwen Cooper" The Doctor begins "Are you from an old Cardiff family?".

Gwen and Ianto glance at one another on the monitor.

"Yes" Gwen replies "All the way back to the eighteen-hundreds".

The Doctor and Rose peer at her in delight.

"Mm, thought so!" The Doctor smiles. He looks at Rose "Spatial genetic multiplicity...".

"Oh, yeah!" Rose grins.

"Yeah, yeah! It's a funny old world!" The Doctor adds "Now, Torchwood, I want you to open up that Rift Manipulator - send all the power to me".

"Doing it now, sir" Ianto replies.

"What's that for?" Martha asks.

"It's a tow-rope" The Doctor explained "Now then, Sarah - what was your son's name?".

"Luke, he's called Luke" Sarah-Jane told him "And the computer's called Mr Smith".

"Calling Luke and Mr Smith!" The Doctor cries.

**-**

**-**

Luke jumps up from where he had been sitting dejectedly in the attic.

_"Come on, Luke, shake a leg!"._

"Is Mum there?" Luke asks.

**-**

**-**

"Oh, she's fine and dandy—" The Doctor replies.

"Yes! Yes!" Sarah-Jane laughs.

"Now, Mr Smith, I want you to harness the Rift power and loop it round the TARDIS, you got that?" The Doctor asks.

"I regret I will need remote access to TARDIS basecode numerals" Mr Smith replies through the screen.

"Oh, blimey. That's gonna take a while" The Doctor steps back, thinking.

"No, no, no. Let me! K-9, out you come!" Sarah-Jane cries.

K-9 appears on the monitor.

"Affirmative, Mistress!" K-9 cried.

The Doctor laughs "Oh, good dog! K-9, give Mr Smith the basecode!".

"Master. TARDIS basecode now being transferred" K-9 replied. The basecode is displayed on Mr Smith.

"The process is simple" K-9 added.

"Now then, you lot –" The Doctor says "Sarah - hold that. And Mickey - you hold that. Because, you know why this TARDIS is always rattling about the place? Rose - that, there" he indicates control "It was designed to have six pilots and I have to do it single handed. Martha - keep that level. But not anymore! Jack - there you go, steady that. Now we can fly this thing –".

Jackie's next. He hesitates "No, Jackie. No, no. Not you" pats her shoulder "Don't touch anything, just... stand back... - Like it's meant to be flown! We've got the Torchwood Rift looped around the TARDIS by Mr Smith. We're gonna fly planet Earth back home. Right, then! Off we go!".

He pulls a lever, and off they go.

The TARDIS is hardly shaking at all as the Doctor and his friends work as a flawless team. Donna strolls around the console, watching them work.

"Rose" The Doctor gestures to a button.

Jack pumps a lever. Martha grins excitedly. Sarah Jane pushes a lever down slowly.

"That's really good, Jack" Donna smiles "I think you're the best".

Jackie laughs.

They all whoop and cheer - everyone hugs everyone - they're absolutely ecstatic. They've done it. Donna wrenches Sarah Jane away from Jack and throws her arms around him.

Everyone is milling around the TARDIS.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Donna says into her phone.

"Are you all right?" Jackie asks Mickey.

"I'm gonna miss you. More than anyone" Mickey tells her.

"What do you mean?" Jackie frowned "The Doctor's gonna take us home, isn't he?".

"But that's the point" Mickey explains.

Jackie understands. He'll never have Rose again. His gran is dead. Jake's married... He doesn't have anything in the parallel world... She pulled him down into a tight hug. He returned it almost painfully and pulled back.

Rose watches as Martha, Mickey, Sarah-Jane and Jack leave the TARDIS, The Doctor following after them. Jackie walks up to Rose and takes her hand, studying her face.

Donna comes back from talking on her phone.

"What's gonnah happen now, Rose?" Jackie asks softly.

"I don't know" Rose admits in a whisper "I don't know".

**-**

**-**

The TARDIS materialises on the sand on a day just like before. Jackie emerges first, followed by The Doctor, Rose and Donna.

"Ugh, fat lot of good this is!" Jackie cries "Back of beyond, bloody Norway! I'm gonna have to phone your father. He's on the nursery run".

Rose is looking around in confusion.

"I was pregnant, do you remember?" Jackie told The Doctor "Had a baby boy!".

"Ah, brilliant!" The Doctor smiles "What did you call him?".

"Doctor" Jackie replies.

"...Really?" The Doctor looks unsure.

"No, you plum. He's called Tony!" Jackie represses a smile.

"Hold on, this is the parallel universe, right?" Rose interrupts.

"You're back home" The Doctor says, smiles all gone and sadness replacing his tone.

"And the walls of the world are closing again..." Donna adds "Now that the Reality Bomb never happened. It's dimension retroclosure... See, I really get that stuff now".

"No, but I spent all that time trying to find you" Rose is close to tears now, completely bewildered "I'm not going back now!".

"But you've got to" The Doctor stepped closer "Because we saved the universe, but at a cost. You travelled through all these parallel worlds and affected every single one...".

Rose waits, the dread coming closer and closer to making her want to throw up.

"You have to stay here" The Doctor continues "To heal the fractures, you have to stay".

"Bullshit!" Rose shouts, making The Doctor and Donna stop walking and turn around.

"You just don't want me with you anymore..." Rose's voice breaks.

"Rose" The Doctor's eyes wells with tears.

"Fine" Rose cuts him off "Go!".

The Doctor freezes.

"Go!" Rose screams, tears falling from her eyes "Go!".

The Doctor takes one last look and walks back into the TARDIS with Donna, slamming the doors shut. Rose feels her heart break apart as the TARDIS begins to whirl that noise she missed so much.

"I'm sorry mum" Rose whispers, hugging her mother tightly before pulling away.

"Rose?" Jackie questions her.

"I'm so sorry" Rose replies "I love you" she runs to the TARDIS just as it's about to disappear and grabs the door handle, opening it quickly and rushing in, slamming the door shut.

Jackie watches with shock as the TARDIS disappears from sight and she's left, standing on a beach in Norway. A tear strolls down her cheek sadly.

**-**

**-**

"Your own mother!" The Doctor shouts at Rose, holding her shoulders tightly. He has her pressed against the TARDIS doors.

"I told you" Rose's tone goes soft "I made my choice a long time ago and I'm never gonnah leave you".

The Doctor draws back, eyes wide and shocked. Rose looks away and glances at Donna "Do'd you need any help?" her gaze is refusing to meet his.

Donna shakes her head "No" she adjusts the monitor, pottering around the controls. The Doctor is now leaning against a support, that awful sorrow back in his eyes. Rose is now standing inches away from The Doctor, frowning at his eyes.

"I thought we could try the planet Felspoon..." Donna continues, "Just 'cos... What a good name, '_Felspoon_'... Apparently it's got mountains that sway in the breeze. Mountains that move. Can you imagine?" she twists a button.

"And how do you know that?" The Doctor asked quietly.

"Because it's in your head!" Donna cried "And if it's in your head, it's in mine".

"And how does that feel?" The Doctor continued.

"Brilliant! Fantastic! Molto bene!" Donna smiled back "Great bit of universe packed into my brain. You know you could fix that chameleon circuit if you just try and hotbind in the fragment links and superseding the binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary—" she cuts off, in a deep breath "I'm fine!".

The Doctor straightens, brow furrowed, but in sadness rather than confusion. Rose watches as he moves forward in confusion.

"Nah, never-mind Felspoon" Donna continues "You know who I'd like to meet? Charlie Chaplin. I've heard he's great, Charlie Chaplin. Shall we do that? Shall we go and see Charlie Chaplin?" she picks up phone, speaks into it "Shall we? Charlie Chaplin? Charlie Chester, Charlie Brown. No, he's fiction, friction, fiction, fixen, mixen, rixten, brixton—" she gasps and doubles over as though winded.

The Doctor goes to her, Rose staring.

"Oh my god" Donna holds her head.

"Do you know what's happening?" The Doctor asked quietly.

"Yeah" Donna whispers.

"There's never been a Human-Time Lord metacrisis before now. And you know why" his voice is low, and lined with sadness.

"Because there can't be" Donna says quietly, her eyes moist. She averts her eyes to the controls and pretends to be busy "I want to stay".

"Look at me" The Doctor adds "Donna, look at me".

Donna raises her head, her body trembling and shaking "I was gonnah be with you... forever".

"I know" The Doctor whispers gently.

"The rest of my life..." she continues sadly "...Travelling in the TARDIS... The Doctor-Donna..." it suddenly dawns on her "No... Oh my god...".

Rose has stepped up to the control, tears in her eyes.

Donna shakes her head, backing away from him, eyes filling with tears. He steps towards her and takes her by the shoulders. "I can't go back" Donna gasps "Doctor... Please, please, don't make me go back...".

The Doctor looks into her eyes "Donna. Oh, Donna Noble. I am so, so sorry".

She looks up at him, in a panic trembling fear.

"But we had the best of times" The Doctor whispers "...The best".

Tears spill down her cheeks.

"Goodbye" The Doctor whispered.

She's frantic as he places his fingers to her temples and closes his eyes "No" Donna gasps "No, please! Please! No, NO! No!".

Images from their adventures flash backwards in quick succession, right back to the moment she appeared in the TARDIS in her wedding dress.

"No!" Donna screams as she falls into his arms, unconscious. Rose darts round and looks into his pain-staked eyes. A tear falls down his cheek and she looks away, brushing her hair away before looking back at him in sadness.

**-**

**-**

Rose sighs sadly and waits on the tattered couches of the TARDIS. She's glad she came back. Not glad she left her mum, stranded on some beach on Norway but she had a mobile phone and a purse full of money so it won't be that bad.

She glances around the empty TARDIS. She asked if he wanted her to go with her but he said no. She didn't take it personally, Donna was his best friend, she knew how much Donna meant to him.

Shove it. Rose pushed herself off the couch and walked towards the TARDIS doors. She opened them and saw The Doctor, standing outside Donna's house, talking to Wilfred. He was alone. No Donna to be seen.

Rose stepped out of the TARDIS and walked towards a bench. She looked up at the rain-filled sky and sat down, waiting for The Doctor.

**-**

**-**

Wilfred watched The Doctor a little anxiously. The Doctor turns and shakes his hand. They're standing at Donna's door, rain hitting down on The Doctor.

"Bye then, Wilfred" The Doctor mustered a sad smile.

Wilfred nods. The Doctor steps out further.

"Oh, Doctor..." Wilfred calls.

The Doctor turns back.

"What about you, now? Who've you got? I mean, all those friends of yours...?" Wilfred asks. Or he doesn't know what he's asking, really.

"I've got..." The Doctor starts "Just someone".

"I'll watch out for you, sir" Wilfred adds, saluting The Doctor.

"You can't ever tell her" The Doctor can't stress this point enough.

"No, no, no" Wilfred assures him "But every night, Doctor... when it gets dark... and the stars come out... I'll look up. On her behalf. I'll look up at the sky and think of you" his voice breaks a little.

The Doctor stands there, in the rain. "Thank you" he whispers. Wilfred nods and closes the door. The Doctor sighs and turns around to proceed to the TARDIS but as soon as he starts walking, he stops.

Rose is sitting on a bench, next to the TARDIS. She's drenched in water, mascara streaked down her cheeks and her body shaking painfully from the cold. He walks over and sits down next to her.

"Donna?" she asks him quietly.

"Safe" is all he can say.

"I'm sorry" she offers, reaching out to take his hand "I know she meant a lot to you".

"Yeah" The Doctor whispers sadly. He looks at her awkwardly "Rose, your mother—".

"Is a big grown woman" Rose cuts him off "She's got Tony, Pete, her job, the mansion... " she pauses, raising her eyebrow "She's pregnant again".

The Doctor looks surprised.

"She's gonnah be fine" Rose whispers, looking away "She'll be fine... She changed after that day... She's strong and she'll survive".

"And what about you?" he questions her.

Rose pauses and then smiles weakly "I'm always gonnah be here, right?".

"Yeah" The Doctor looks away, sighing softly "You are".

"You figured it out?" She looks away, down at the harsh rain.

"Yeah" The Doctor whispers, emotion rocking his tone "I figured it out".

"Why did it happen?" she has to question it. This wonderful thing that happened to her, she has to question it.

"When the New Doctor was killed, the regeneration energy was still fresh enough to resist... When you stepped into them, they stepped into you..." he explained.

Rose waited with fear. Did this mean he was also going to have to take away her memory? It would—

"You got the regeneration cycle, Rose" The Doctor interrupts her chain of thought "Or... One of mine, actually... You'll never age...".

Her heart skips a beat at his words and she snaps round to stare at him in the eye. She has to know he's not joking, he's not wrong, he wouldn't be wrong...

"I'll never..." she whispers softly "We'll be..." she can't say it. Because if she says it, it might be wrong. Fate has a way of cruelly screwing with your happy future.

Rose turns to look at him "I promised you forever".

The Doctor nods, looking down almost shyly "You did...".

"And so this..." she whispers it so softly, he has to lean in to hear her "This means I can give you forever..?".

The Doctor reaches up to stroke her tears away but it's in vain cause with the unrelenting rain, it doesn't make a difference "If... You want... You could... Come back, with me, old life... In the TARDIS...".

"Well, where else am I gonnah spend it?" Rose laughs and this time, he does to. It dawns on him. She hasn't got anyone else now. The only person she has real links with is Mickey and apparently after what he said... It didn't sound as if they had rekindled any kind of a relationship.

Something in him snaps. He doesn't know why he does it but he does. His hands slide down with ease to her hips and he feels her tense. She bites her lip and opens her mouth to say something but he presses his lips to hers, taking full advantage of her open mouth. His tongue ravishes hers and he towers over a little, making her grind against him.

She swallows his deep moan of pleasure and lets him bend her back more so his mouth is fully pressed against hers. She can't help but grip his shoulders as his exploration of her mouth is growing more passionate by the second.

All that frustration of being able to look but never touch forced it's way into the kiss, each fighting a war with each other, trying to over-power the other.

And then he pulls away, lips puffy and his eyes dark with desire. She looks up at him with a heated gaze and heavily panted breath.

She links her fingers through his, more tightly now. "Can we go home now?".

"Yes" he smiles, then beams "Yes" they stand slowly, drenched in hail-stones and rain. He opens the TARDIS doors and lets her walk in, him following her. He closes the doors over, smiling.

The wet-drenched TARDIS sounded off its usual whiz and started to disappear. Seconds later; Rose, The Doctor and the TARDIS were gone.

Wilfred peered out the blinds from his window and saluted the sky; a saddening look echoed on his face.

* * *

**A/N:**

**... I lied. Maybe not a very happy Epilogue, poor Donna but... I honestly couldn't think of anything...**

**Yay happy for Doctor/Rose! :D**

**Anyways, reviews are love!**

**x**


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